In the Pub

Another grey Sunday afternoon.

Red or white, anyone!

And the inconsistent summer weather might well drive me to drink…

Meet Janie.

But not today!

Yes, it’s a grey Sunday, but that means it’s Slow Stitching Sunday with Kathy’s Quilts, which also means meeting up with my friend Janie for a pub lunch and show and tell session. Janie brought along her knitting and was working on a sleeveless jumper for her imminent great nephew. She’s knitting it up in a lovely cotton yarn that she picked up at a charity shop. I’m always envious of her thrifty finds: it’s not something I seem to be very good at.

Slow Stitching Ocean Waves

I brought along some half square triangles to hand piece for my Ocean Waves quilt. It’s very relaxing to sit and chat while I’m hand stitching and know that by the time I get home I’ll have enough squares sewn together to make another few blocks. In fact it seems to be becoming a Sunday habit: I sit and do some slow stitching with Janie, ride home on my bike and finish up two or three more blocks on my hand cranked Singer, continuing with the slow stitching theme.

Pinwheel border perhaps?

I have about 30 blocks made now, but I think I’ll need either 48 or 55 for a double (queen) size, depending on whether I put a border on or not. I’ve been making up small pinwheel blocks with the remnant triangle pieces I have. I think they might work well for an on-point border, but I’m still undecided. Hopefully I’ll have the top finished by the end of the year but I’m in no rush. I’m making this one for Kim when he leaves home – which doesn’t appear to be imminent, haha! (He says he might like to study at the local university in a couple of years time, so I could have some 5 years left yet.)

Before I head off I was just wondering how far ahead you work on a project – do you prefer to work with or without deadlines? I wonder if it’s even possible to set a deadline on a hand sewn project, what do you think?

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sundayand looking forward to seeing what everyone’s been up to this week.

I do not work deadlines! I refuse to I want everything to be relaxing – how fun to meet your friend on Sunday afternoon and stitch a bit over coffee or whatever! Here it is just plain hot – which it was cooler.

Hi Karen! I hope you’ve had a relaxing day – I totally agree: deadlines do NOT make for good relaxation!! I am noticing a bit of a backlog in tops that need quilting though…they’ll probably just get done when they get done, which’ll be whenever the mood takes me 🙂

I love Mary my Singer! I was lucky enough to get her from a friend; it belonged to her grandmother so it feels very personal to have it. If you can get one as good as Mary I’d highly recommend it, the stitch is just beautiful. And I find I’m much more accurate with her too: “less haste, more speed” as my mother would say!

Not added any of his shirts so far Ann – at the moment he doesn’t wear anything other than t-shirts! I have a couple of his shirts from when he was about 7 years old that I plan to use in small amounts because they’re red check. I’ve included a white shirt I was wearing when he was born and a few bits of a black print dress I had when I was 10 (I loved it so much, I was a real tom-boy, and was often mistaken for a boy, but this dress made me feel very much like a girl!). Have you had any thoughts about what you’ll be using your collection of old shirts for yet?

Thanks Kathy 🙂 I think I might need to impose some ‘loose’ deadlines for myself too – e.g. get this one done in 2 years time, get another couple I’ve got on the go finished before Christmas, that sort of thing! I think a specific date might cause me severe stress!!

That’s the trouble with deadlines isn’t it Kaja – miss them and I feel like a massive failure! Sundays have been bliss lately, usually Janie and I meet on a Thursday, but her work hours have to change over the summer holidays and these Sunday afternoons have been wonderful. At the moment Kim is thinking about studying graphic design/illustration at uni and Falmouth has a good reputation for the arts (I went there twice, even met his dad there the first time round, so it must be good right?!), so I would be pleased if he chose to stay home for that. Equally, it would be good if he went further afield (for him anyway!) x

I found the deadline for the ATC swap really hard Dina! If I have a deadline I always wait until the last minute too – I remember still writing my MA dissertation at 3 in the morning before I had to hand it in, nothing like a close call to get the adrenaline rushing (I can do without the stress nowadays though!)

How do you plan for a deadline for something like a quilt though Deb? That must take some incredible planning – the trouble I have is that I have no idea how long it’s going to take me to complete a particular process and I’m likely to change my mind half way through anyway! I’m very impressed you can do that, you’ll have to share some of your organisational tips!

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I'm Stephie, welcome to the DCS blog. This is the place to meet and chat all things quilting and I'd love it if you joined in. Use the category menu below to browse around, take your time and enjoy your stay!